News from Falling Mountain

Workshops

I teach a variety of workshops, geared to guitar players of all levels and non-guitarists alike. A workshop can be 2 hours, half a day before or after a show, a weekend or up to two weeks. Some favorite topics over the years (outlines available):

EXPANDING THE TONAL AND EXPRESSIVE PALLETTE WITH A FRESH LOOK AT RIGHT HAND TECHNIQUE
Guitarists tend to think of their instrument in terms of learning frets, fingers and strings. But there is a whole other dimension of expression that can happen when we think of the right hand differently. One of my most popular workshops.

NOT FOR GUITARISTS ONLY!
I often say I’m a musician first; guitar is only the voice through which the music speaks. What is the Creative Process? How do we find a voice of expression without getting bogged down in technique?
How do we learn to transcend the instrument? What is Creative Listening? A workshop for all musicians (guitarists, “fret” not: you will learn plenty about our instrument as well!).

THE PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE AS PARTNERS: COMPLETING THE CIRCLE
The target participants for this Active Listening Workshop: Adults with a mix of musical backgrounds, ranging from no experience with performing music to amateur or semi-professional performer.

IMPROVISATION AS SPONTANEOUS COMPOSITION
Many people think of Improvisation as some mysterious skill that happens “over the chord progression”. We’ll look at it a little differently in this workshop for all musicians.

NEW: THIS IS HOW I DISAPPEAR: THE GUITAR MEETS A WORLD OF TRADITIONS
“This Is How I Disappear” is more than the title of the new CD–it’s a journey into an intensely personal creative process. I talk about “disappearing” as a creative necessity, and “reappearing” as its logical outcome, all exemplified by music from my newest collection.